The present invention relates to an assembly system, in which a large number of component parts are located in separate containers or boxes which are individually and selectively brought to a central location where the parts are extracted and assembled.
In the fabrication of printed circuit boards, an operator may sit at a console that mounts one or more circuit boards, and circuit elements located in boxes or bins are conveniently located near the operator. The boxes of components may be arranged on a rack of shelves in columns and rows and individual boxes brought to a fixed position in a programmed manner where the parts are individually taken from their boxes and placed in the appropriate location on the P.C. boards by the operator.
A mechanism will bring a box of components to the assembly location where one or more parts are taken from the box by the operator and mounted on the P.C. board. Then the operator may activate a switch and the mechanism will remove the component box and bring another box into the assembly position. During the time that the prior box is removed and returned to its original location or home position and the subsequent box taken from its normal position to the assembly position a considerable amount of time may elapse which constitutes wasted assembly time.
The present invention is designed to minimize or eliminate the delay between the time a box of parts is withdrawn form the assembly position and the next box brought to the position.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for efficiently and quickly moving boxes of components to be assembled to and from a fixed assembly position.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a printed circuit board assembly system in which the circuit elements are located in individual boxes which are efficiently and quickly brought to an assembly position for mounting on the circuit board.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system for assembling printed circuit boards in which the circuit elements are located in containers or boxes arranged in a rack of rows and columns and in which the individualy selected parts boxes are brought to an assembly position with minimum delay.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a printed circuit board assembly system in which a rack of circuit board parts boxes are brought to an assembly location with minimum delay and in which there is a ready position for thee parts boxes located in close proximity to the assembly position.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description considered with the drawings.